Does your teenager experience anxiety?

Did their signs and symptoms of anxiety increase or decrease during lockdown?

A recent survey was published by The University of Bristol. Researchers surveyed 1,000 secondary school children in South West England in October 2019. Of those, 54% of 13 to 14-year-old girls and 26% of boys of the same age said they felt anxious.

In May - several weeks after schools shut to most pupils and nationwide lockdown restrictions came into force - the proportion dropped to 45% of girls and 18% of boys surveyed.

BBC News 24 August 2020

A high proportion of pupils that I work with in schools disclose feelings of anxiety that impact upon their daily lives.
Often their behaviours are described to me as angry, or disruptive. Through exploration with the child or young person I find that the driving emotion behind the behaviour is anxiety.
It is no surprise to me that some children and young people will have experienced a form of relief from anxiety throughout lockdown. However, **avoidance** is not a strategy I keep in my toolkit and nor is it a coping skill I want to share with children or young people.

Before Covid-19, in 2018 The Children's Society published the following statistics:

1 in 10 schoolchildren have a diagnosable mental health condition.

If children aged between 5 and 16 don’t get the support they need, their problems will get worse. And it’s vital that they get help with their issues now, because:

75% of all mental health problems are established by the time someone is 18.

By not giving children and young people the support they need at a young age, society is allowing their problems to manifest. With the right support at the right time, these problems can be managed and prevented. This is a serious issue because at the moment:

75% of young people who are experiencing mental health problems aren’t receiving treatment.

This problem is largely caused by a lack of available services. Not only would providing more money for support services benefit young people who are experiencing mental health issues, it would also be a good investment, because currently:

The estimated costs of mental health problems in the UK are over £100 billion each year.

This figure includes both the cost of providing treatment for mental health issues, and the cost to the economy from people missing work due to mental health problems. The economic cost of mental health problems should not be underestimated, because:

Mental health is the single largest cause of disability in the UK.

In terms of causing disability, mental health is a bigger problem than both cancer and cardiovascular disease. Yet treatment for mental health problems is still woefully inadequate.

If you are living with an anxious child or young person, then I understand just how distressing this can be. The time it can take for the support your child needs can be frustrating. The worry you experience as a parent and feelings of helplessness can be distressing.

I hope this will help in some way.

How I approach anxiety with young people, in 4 simple steps.

Identify - label it, name it to tame it.

Be curious, “I wonder why that happens when….” or “I’ve noticed lately….” Listen to the young person, take time to reflect with them by simply paraphrasing, “So have I heard this right, you feel…..” so they feel heard.

If they express a feeling, validate that feeling for them. Sit in that space comfortably with them, without trying to take it away for them, fix it or offering alternative views. Be empathetic, just be there. Dr Brene Brown captures it perfectly for me in this short animation, Brene Brown on Empathy

If they struggle to give the emotion a label, then help them, “It sounds like you might be feeling anxious / worried / stressed?” Dr Dan Siegel coined the phrase ‘name it to tame it’. You can read more about his approach on his website.

Explore - understand it, locate it within the body and see what it looks like inside and outside of yourself.

I use a number of visual tools to help young people see the impact of anxiety inside and out. I use body maps often to recognise physical symptoms such as changes to heart rate and breathing, tension in muscles, upset stomach, tightening of the throat and sweating palms. I have done hundreds of body maps over the years, some on A4 sheets of paper, some on full size sheets of wallpaper, walls and floors and even on fitted bedsheets. Not one child’s body map has ever looked the same as another.

I use Dan Siegel’s ‘Hand Model of the Brain’ theory to help children understand and visualise what is happening in their brain when anxiety takes over. In this video Mo Mindful illustrates Flipping Your lid for us, I find her explanation is simple and effective.

I use the Iceberg Model to support understanding of what drives reactions and behaviours, this animation gives a visual explanation. I often use visuals in my practice, whether it is a Youtube video to support what I am teaching, drawing or using objects or crafts.

Recognise - know your triggers, unhelpful thoughts, beliefs, situations, people and behaviours.

By using the Thoughts, Feelings and Actions model I show young people how each one is separate, and how they influence the other. We discuss points where the cycle can be broken, and which strategies we could use to do so. When we look at situations we can break them down by using the model to identify triggers they may or may not be aware of.

‘The way we learn how to be resilient and how to handle difficult things is by practicing sitting in, dealing with and walking through difficult stuff.’
Tina Payne Bryson

Manage - try out strategies that work for you, and only you.

Strategies have to be personal to each individual, what works for me, may not work for you. Habits are often formed, and sometimes coping strategies adopted to relieve anxiety can be harmful. Taking time to talk about different strategies, which are helpful or not is important. The young person will always respond better if they have autonomy over the strategies chosen. If they are in school then of course they have to be within the limits and boundaries of that environment.

Here are some trusted sources for further reading and resources.